Virtual Goods Get a Hollywood Makeover

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Habbo, the Leading virtual world for teens, to create virtual goods inspired by three Paramount Pictures titles.

By establishing a licensing deal with a leading studio like Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, we are able to produce themed virtual goods relevant to the movies our teen audience is watching, while simultaneously implementing impactful promotional campaigns for the studio.

Los Angeles, CA (PRWEB)January 29, 2008

Habbo, the largest online virtual world for teens, today with Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, announced a licensing agreement to create virtual goods based off of titles including "The Spiderwick Chronicles," "Beowulf"* and "Mean Girls." The deal will provide Habbo merchandising rights throughout the U.S. and Canada for all three properties. The partnership marks one of the first of its kind between a major motion picture studio and a virtual world commodity.

Starting in February with the upcoming fantasy-adventure title, "The Spiderwick Chronicles," Habbo will introduce into their North American community of more than 1.8 million teens, items that include themed apparel to accessorize avatars, virtual furniture and accessories, as well as other virtual goods based on the movie. Habbo will follow up by producing themed virtual merchandise for the popular, previously released titles, "Beowulf"* and "Mean Girls" in the upcoming months.

"The Habbo audience demands that their community reflect today's real world pop culture entertainment landscape," said Teemu Huuhtanen, EVP, Habbo business and President, North America. "By establishing a licensing deal with a leading studio like Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment, we are able to produce themed virtual goods relevant to the movies our teen audience is watching, while simultaneously implementing impactful promotional campaigns for the studio."

"Many of our movie properties naturally lend themselves to unique and innovative opportunities in the traditional, digital and virtual worlds," said Alex Carloss, Executive Vice President & GM of Worldwide Digital Distribution for Paramount Pictures Digital Entertainment. "This agreement allows us to access Habbo's exceptional virtual community and built-in audience base where users can extend and enhance the film experience with a suite of themed-virtual goods."

There are currently Habbo communities in 31 countries on five continents. To date, over 86 million Habbo characters have been created and more than 8 million unique users worldwide visit Habbo each month. (source: Google Analytics)

Produced by Paramount Pictures and Shangri-La Entertainment

About Habbo:
Habbo is a richly colorful, multi-dimensional virtual community and game environment for teens. Users join by creating a fully customized online character called a Habbo. From there, they can explore many public hang-outs, play a variety of games, connect with friends, decorate their own rooms, and have fun through creativity and self expression. Currently there are Habbo communities in 31 countries on five continents. To date, over 86 million Habbo characters have been created and 8.3 million unique users worldwide visit Habbo each month (source: Google Analytics). Habbo is operated by Sulake Corporation, a Finnish online entertainment company.